Wind had died down from the day before (climbed the Turtle Mountains HP the day before), and a bit warmer. Pleasant day with great views. Spirit to the north, Stepladder to the west, Lake Havasu to the north east, Chemehuevi to the north, and Signal way down in AZ to the south, to name a few. #53 into my second DPS list finish.

Climbed with Allison and Zoe the wonder dog. Thought it was an easy outing until Zoe lost the skin on her hind paws and we had to carry her down the mountains. Poor Zoe. Next time we'll get her some dog booties.

I spent 3 days hiking with Heather and then she went off to do 100+ miles on the PCT. I then spent 4 days bagging peaks solo and I started with Whipple. Whipple was fairly rugged. I found an old tobacco pipe near the summit which looks ancient. Other things I climbed on this week trip include the Kingston, Kelso Dunes highpoint, East Ord, Cady, Chemehuevi, Mastodon, and Eagle (J-Tree).

We started this one using the Summitpost directions, since I didn't have my DPS directions with me, as Whipple was a replacement for another peak we decided against earlier in the week. The directions call for paying attention to a fork in the wash about .8 of a mile in. All is good, but at approximately 1650' of elevation there is another, less obvious fork that must be taken to the right. We didn't see it and continued on in what appeared to be the main channel, until we later ran into a massive headwall. We climbed out of the channel onto a rough ridge that worked it's way up and down several bumps, with the last one giving up nearly 300' of elevation to get to the 3000' saddle where the real climbing begins (I know we're not the first to have made that mistake). From there I worked my way around the base of a huge rock formation and found my way up to the summit ridge. We returned down the canyon we should have been in on the way up, and it was easy and pleasant. BTW, despite what some say, there was not a cairn of any kind along either route, with the exception of a summit cairn at point 3290' and the three high points on the summit ridge.

We arrived late the night before and got rained on for a few hours, but by next morning the clouds had cleared out, leaving a beautiful cool day for the climb. The canyon portion is outstanding. Even the very tricky-looking parts aren't bad, as long as you pay attention. Trip Report, 2/28/10